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Senior Software Engineer – Time Synchronization

Clockworksystems

Palo Alto, California, US$150k – $230konsiteAI

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About this role

About Clockwork Systems

Clockwork.io – Software Driven Fabrics to increase GPU cluster utilization

Clockwork Systems was founded by Stanford researchers and veteran systems engineers who share a vision for redefining the foundations of distributed computing. As AI workloads grow increasingly complex, traditional infrastructure struggles to meet the demands of performance, reliability, and precise coordination. Clockwork is pioneering a software-driven approach to AI fabrics by delivering cross-stack observability to catch and quickly resolve problems, workload fault tolerance to keep jobs running through failures, and performance acceleration that dynamically routes and paces traffic to avoid congestion.

To learn more, visit www.clockwork.io .

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Engineer to lead development of our Core ClockSync systems. This role focuses on building and scaling low-latency, highly accurate time synchronization infrastructure across distributed environments. You will work at the intersection of distributed systems, networking, and systems engineering to ensure correctness, reliability, and performance of time coordination across clusters and services.

What You Will Do

• Design and implement core time synchronization algorithms and services

• Improve accuracy, drift correction, and fault tolerance of distributed clocks

• Build globally scalable services that operate under tight latency and consistency constraints

• Develop observability systems for clock health, skew detection, and anomaly analysis

• Optimize performance at the OS, kernel, and network levels where necessary

• Collaborate with infrastructure, platform, and product teams

• Lead technical direction and mentor engineers

What We’re Looking For

• 6+ years of experience in systems or distributed systems engineering

• Strong proficiency in C++ and Go

• Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts (consensus, replication, fault tolerance)

• Experience with time synchronization protocols (NTP, PTP) or related domains

• Familiarity with Linux systems programming and networking stacks

• Experience debugging low-level performance and correctness issues

• Strong problem-solving and design skills

Nice to Have

• Experience with kernel development or eBPF

• Background in real-time systems or high-frequency trading infrastructure

• Knowledge of hardware clocks, NIC timestamping, or GPS-based timing

• Experience operating large-scale distributed systems in production

Enjoy

• Challenging projects.

• A friendly and inclusive workplace culture.

• Competitive compensation.

• A great benefits package.

• Catered lunch.

Compensation for this position will vary based on the skills and experience you bring, as well as internal equity considerations. For candidates hired at the posted level, the expected base salary range is $150,000 - $230,000 . In addition to cash compensation, this role is eligible to participate in the company’s equity program, which may include stock options granted in accordance with the company’s equity plan and subject to approval and applicable vesting schedules.

Clockwork Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building world-class teams by welcoming bright, passionate individuals from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. We believe diversity drives innovation, and we grow stronger together.

Salary insight

The midpoint of this range ($190k) is about 5% below the median disclosed salary for San Francisco roles listed on ForgeApply ($200k across 8,773 jobs).

See full Software Engineer salary data for San Francisco →

Based on live postings with disclosed pay on ForgeApply; refreshed daily. Not an estimate of this employer's offer.

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